Retractable writing instrument latch means



E. L. KELLER 2,811,945

RETRACTABLE WRITING INSTRUMENT LATCH MEANS Nov. 5, 1957 Filed March 17, 1955 A .M 6 m J United States Patent RETRACTABLE WRITING INSTRUMENT LATCH MEANS Eugene L. Keller, Red Oak, Ga., assignor to Scripto, Inc., Atlanta, Ga., a corporation of Georgia Application March 17, 1955, Serial No. 494,856

7 Claims. (Cl. 12042.03)

This invention relates generally to retractable writing instruments of the type in which a writing element is arranged so that it may be alternatively withdrawn within the barrel housing of the writing instrument when not in use or projected therefrom to a writing position when desired, and more particularly to a novel form oflatch means for controlling projection and retraction of the writing element and for releasably latching it at projected writing position.

The latch means of the present invention is characterized by a latching lever that is arranged for lateral pivoting motion as well as longitudinal displacement so as to serve as the sole operating element of the latch means without requiring any rear end operating plunger as has heretofore been common in retractable writing instruments. As a result of this arrangement, the rear end of the barrel housing can be formed for use independently of the latch means and can accordingly be employed to carry a rearwardly exposed eraser, for example.

Also, instead of employing a spring lever as has been usual in the prior art, the latch means of the present invention incorporates a rigid latching lever that may be used as the latch operating element and that is biased by the same bias normally provided on the writing element for retracting it within the writing instrument. In addition, the present invention provides a unique and effective arrangement of the latching lever in combination with a pocket clip for the writing instrument by which the pocket clip is utilized as a housing means for guiding the operating motion of the latching lever, while still serving conventionally as a pocket clip.

These and other features of the present invention are described in further detail below in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is an elevation of a retractable writing instrument incorporating a latch means arranged according to the present invention; and

Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal section of the writing instrument shown in Fig. 1.

The writing instrument shown in the drawings to illustrate an embodiment of the present invention is indicated generally by the reference numeral 10. This writing instrument 10 comprises a two-part barrel housing formed by a forward barrel portion 12 and a rear barrel portion 14. Within the forward barrel portion 12, a writing element 16 is slidably arranged for projection forwardly to a writing position through a tapered writing tip of the barrel portion 12 and is biased rearwardly for retraction therein by a compression spring 18, which is seated at an inwardly stepped annular shoulder 20 adjacent the forward end of the barrel portion 12 to bear rearwardly against a shoulder 22 formed exteriorly on the writing element 16.

The writing element 16 illustrated in the drawings is of the type described in detail and claimed in copending application Serial No. 476,479, filed December 20, 1954, although any other type of writing element desired might be similarly arranged for control by the latch ice means of the present invention. Also, it should be noted that because the latch means of the present invention allows the rear barrel portion 14 to be arranged for carrying an eraser 24 at the rear end thereof, it offers particular advantage in a writing instrument arranged to use an erasable, liquid lead, as described in detail and claimed in copending application Serial No. 429,927, iiied May 14, 1954, and subsequently abandoned in favor of a continuation-in-part application Serial No. 504,848, filed April 29, 1955, now U. S. Patent No. 2,715,388, granted August 16, 1955.

The forward barrel portion 12 is reduced in diameter and threaded adjacent its rear end, as indicated at 26, for assembly with the rear barrel portion 14, which is fitted for this purpose with an exterior alignment sleeve 28 in which an internally threaded assembly cap 30 is arranged. The assembly cap 30 has a clearance aperture 32 formed in its rear face to allow rearward extension therethrough of the writing element 16 from the forward barrel portion 12, and a plunger member 34 is slidably arranged within the rear barrel portion 14 beyond the assembly cap 30 to receive the rear end of the writing element 16. The rear barrel portion 14 is also fitted with a longitudinally slit liner sleeve 36 that extends to a rear open end of the barrel portion 14 and is shouldered forwardly of this rear open end to form a socketthereat for receiving the previously noted eraser 24.

The liner sleeve 36 also extends forwardly in the barrel portion 14 far enough to have assembly ears 38 clinched therethrough at assembly slots (not shown) for mounting a pocket clip 40 exteriorly of the barrel portion 14. Both the liner sleeve 36 and the barrel portion 14 are longitudinally slotted as indicated at 42 and 44 rearwardly of this mounting for the pocket clip 40, and the pocket clip 40 extends rearwardly with a longitudinal clearance slot formed therein in alignment with the liner sleeve and barrel portion slots 42 and 44, and with the rear end thereof extended laterally inward adjacent the rear edges of the slots 42 and 44 to form a latching lip 48 reaching interiorly of the barrel portion 14 and liner sleeve 36.

As thus arranged, the pocket clip 40 serves as a housing means for guiding operation of a latching lever 50, which is formed with pivot leg and latch block portions 52 and 54 that are joined adjacent one end of the pivot leg portion 52 with the latch block portion 54 extending laterally therefrom, the pivot leg portion 52 being disposed for lengthwise sliding movement within the hous ing formed by the pocket clip 40 with its extending end reaching forwardly therein, and with the latch block portion 54 extending laterally inward through the slots 42 and 44 to a position interiorly of the barrel portion 14 and liner sleeve 36. The latch block portion 54 is disposed in this manner for opposing abutment at its forward edge 56 with the rear face of the plunger member 34 and is thereby arranged to have the force of the rearward bias on the writing element 16 from the compression spring 18 imposed thereon.

The latch block portion 54 also extends rearwardly beyond the joined end of the pivot leg portion 52 and has inwardly stepped, rearwardly facing, first and second latch notches 58 and 641 formed at the adjacent side thereof for cooperation with the pocket clip latching lip 48 at a spacing corresponding to the distance between projected and retracted positions of the writing element 16. In addition, the pivot leg portion 52 is formed with an operating knob 62 arranged laterally adjacent the joined end thereof at the side opposite the latch block portion 54, and this operating knob 62 is disposed through the pocket clip clearance slot 46 for manipulating access; and the extending end of the pivot leg portion 52 is tapered at the side thereof opposite the operating knob 62 as indicated at 64.

As thus arranged, the latching lever 50 serves to control projection and retraction of the writing element 16 through operating pressure applied at the operating knob 62 substantially lengthwise of the pivot leg portion 52. At the full line position shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing, the writing element 16 is disposed at projected position with the first latch notch 58 of the latching lever 50 engaged at the pocket clip latching lip 48. At this projected position, it will be seen that the taper 64 at the extending end of the pivot leg portion 52 has allowed lateral pivoting motion of the latching lever 52 to engage the notch 58 thereof with the latching lip 48, and that the rearward bias on the writing element 16 is directed through the plunger member 34 to maintain this engagement. However, upon applying pressure at the operating knob 62, the latching lever notch 58 can be readily disengaged from the latching lip 48 to allow rearward shifting of the latching lever 50 and writing element 16, under the rearward bias thereon, until the latching lip 48 is seated at the second latch notch 60 where the writing element 16 will be withdrawn to retracted position, as indicated by broken lines in Fig. 2. To project the writing element 16 again, the latching lever 50 is simply displaced forwardly by pressure applied at the operating knob 62 and seating of the first latch notch 58 at the latching lip 48 is readily reestablished.

Manipulation of the latching lever 50 in both directions can be accomplished by manual pressure applied at the operating knob 62 in a direction substantially lengthwise of the pivot leg portion 52, so that projection or retraction of the writing element 16 becomes simply a matter of flicking the operating knob 26 back and forth in the pocket clip clearance slot 46 by what amounts to an easy lateral brushing motion thereat. The arrangement of the pivot leg portion 52 with the taper 64 at its extending end allows the lengthwise sliding movement thereof to be supplemented by, or compounded with, lateral pivoting motion to accomplish this result easily and smoothly.

The present invention has been described in detail above for purposes of illustration only and is not intended to be limited by this description or otherwise except as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A latching lever for operation in a retractable writing instrument to control projection and retraction of a writing element therein, said latching lever being formed with pivot leg and latch block portions, said latch block portion being joined laterally adjacent one end of said pivot leg portion, and said pivot leg portion having the other extending end thereof formed for bearing against a laterally opposed surface to allow lateral rocking motion of said latching lever about the bearing of said pivot leg portion incident to manipulation of said latching lever by pressure applied substantially lengthwise of said pivot leg portion.

2. A latching for operation in a retractable writing instrument to control projection and retraction of a writing element therein, said latching lever being formed with pivot leg and latch block portions, said latch block portion being joined laterally adjacent one end of said pivot leg portion, and the other extending end of said pivot leg portion being tapered at the side thereof facing toward said latch block portion and being thereby formed at said tapered side for bearing intermediate its length against a laterally opposed surface to allow lateral rocking motion of said latching lever about the bearing of said pivot leg portion incident to manipulation of said latching lever by pressure applied substantially lengthwise of said pivot leg portion.

3. A latching lever for operation in a retractable writing instrument to control projection and retraction of a writing element therein, said latching lever being formed with pivot leg and latch block portions joined adjacent one end of said pivot leg portion with said latch block portion extending laterally therefrom, said pivot leg portion having an operating knob arranged laterally adjacent the joined end thereof at the side opposite said latch block portion, and the other extending end of said pivot leg portion being tapered at the opposite side thereof and being thereby formed at said tapered side for bearing intermediate its length against a laterally opposed surface to allow lateral rocking motion of said latching lever about the bearing of said pivot leg portion incident to manipulation of said latching lever by pressure applied at said operating knob substantially lengthwise of said pivot leg portion.

4. A latch means for a retractable writing instrument, said latch means comprising a latching lever formed with pivot leg and latch block portions joined adjacent one end of said pivot leg portion with said latch block portion extending laterally therefrom, and housing means containing said pivot leg portion for lengthwise sliding movement, said pivot leg portion having an operating knob arranged laterally adjacent the joined end thereof at the side opposite said latch block portion, said housing means having an elongated longitudinal slot therein through which said operating knob is disposed, and the other extending end of said pivot leg portion being tapered at the side thereof opposite said operating knob and being thereby formed at said tapered side for bearing intermediate its length against a laterally opposed surface to allow lateral rocking motion of said latching lever about the bearing of said pivot leg portion incident to lengthwise sliding movement thereof within said housing means by pressure applied exteriorly of said housing means at said operating knob substantially lengthwise of said pivot leg portion.

5. A latch means for a retractable writing instrument, said latch means comprising a latching lever formed with pivot leg and latch block portions joined adjacent one end of said pivot leg portion with said latch block portion extending laterally therefrom, and housing means for guiding lengthwise sliding movement of said pivot leg portion, said latch block portion having an abutment edge facing in the direction in which the other end of said pivot leg portion extends and an oppositely facing latch edge spaced in the opposite direction beyond the joined end of said pivot leg portion, said pivot leg portion having an operating knob arranged laterally ad'- jacent the joined end thereof at the side opposite said latch block portion, said housing means having an elongated slot therein through which said operating knob is disposed for displacement to effect lengthwise sliding movement of said pivot leg portion, said housing means being further formed with a laterally extending latching lip arranged for engagement by said latch edge upon displacement of said latching lever in the direction in which said pivot leg portion extends, and the extending end of said pivot leg portion being tapered at the side thereof opposite said operating knob and being thereby formed at said tapered side for bearing intermediate its length against a laterally opposed surface to allow lateral rocking motion of said latching lever about the bearing of said pivot leg portion incident to lengthwise sliding movement thereof within said housing means by pressure applied exteriorly of said housing means at said operating knob substantially lengthwise of said pivot leg portion for engaging and disengaging said latch edge at said latching lip.

6. A latch means for controlling projection and retraction of a writing element in a retractable writing instrument, said latch means comprising a latching lever formed with pivot leg and latch block portions joined adjacent one end of said pivot leg portion with said latch block portion extending laterally therefrom, and a pocket clip for said writing instrument arranged additionally for guiding lengthwise sliding movement of said pivot leg portion, the outer face of said pocket clip having a central longitudinal slot formed therein adjacent its rear end and a latching lip extending laterally inward therefrom at said rear end, said pivot leg portion having an operating knob arranged laterally adjacent the joined end thereof at the side opposite said latch block portion, said operating knob being disposed through said slot and proportioned for lengthwise shifting therein with the extending length of said pivot leg portion reaching forwardly in said pocket clip, said latch block portion reaching rearwardly beyond the joined end of said pivot leg portion and having a rearwardly facing latch edge and a forwardly facing abutment edge, and the extending end of said pivot 'leg portion being tapered at the side thereof opposite said operating knob and being thereby formed at said tapered side for hearing intermediate its length against a laterally opposed surface to allow lateral rocking motion of said latch lever about the bearing of said pivot leg portion incident to lengthwise sliding movement thereof within said housing means by pressure applied exteriorly of said housing means at said operating knob substantially lengthwise of said pivot leg portion for engaging and disengaging said latch edge at said latching lip.

7. In a writing instrument comprising a writing ele ment, a barrel housing containing said writing element for projection forwardly therefrom to a writing position, and means disposed within said barrel housing for biasing said writing element rearwardly to a retracted position therein, a latch means for controlling projection and retraction of said writing element and for releasably latching said element at said projected writing position, said latch means comprising a latching lever formed with pivot leg and latch block portions joined adjacent one end of said pivot leg portion with Said latch block portion extending lateral-1y therefrom, and a pocket clip for said writing instrument mounted on said barrel housing and forming an exterior housing means thereon for guiding operation of said latching lever, said barrel housing having a longitudinal slot therein and said pocket clip being mounted to extend rearwardly over said longitudinal slot with the rear end thereof extending laterally inward through said slot adjacent its rear edge and forming a latching lip interiorly of said barrel housing, said latching lever being disposed with the pivot leg portion thereof extending forwardly within said pocket clip for lengthwise sliding movement therein exteriorly of said barrel housing and with said latch block portion extending laterally inward through said barrel housing slot to an abutting position interiorly of said barrel housing at the rear end of said rearwardly biased Writing element, said latch block portion being further formed to extend rearwardly beyond the joined end of said pivot leg portion andhaving inwardly stepped first and second latch notches formed therein for engagement with said latching lip at a spacing corresponding to the distance between projected and retracted positions of said writing element, said pivot leg portion having an operating knob arranged laterally adjacent the joined end thereof opposite said latch block portion, said pocket clip having a longitudinal clearance slot therein through which said operating knob is disposed for lengthwise shifting in an extent exceeding slightly the spacing of said first and second latch notches, and the extending end of said pivot leg portion being tapered at the side thereof opposite said operating knob and thereby being formed to bear against the exterior surface of said barrel intermediate the length of said pivot leg side for allowing lateral pivoting motion of said latching lever incident to manipulation thereof by pressure applied at said operating knob substantially lengthwise of said pivot leg portion to dispose said first latch notch for engagement at said latching lip upon projection of said Writing element by said latching lever and to dispose said second latch notch for engagement thereat in releasing said writing element for retraction under the bias thereon.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,557,054 Mansheim June 21, 1951 2,624,315 Weisser et a1. Jan. 6, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 204,988 Great Britain Oct. 4, 1923 979,112 France Dec. 6, 1950 

